Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Review of BrainDead

A lot of the creative talent for movies has gone into television
in recent years, so I’ll start a new category of reviews: TV series. (If I ever
get Wi-Fi, I’ll have to change the name.)

So a delightful new show is BrainDead, starring Mary
Elizabeth Winstead and Tony Shalhoub. This was my favorite premier since the Battlestar Galactica mini-series in
2003. Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Laurel Healey, a new congressional aide who
has to learn fast the cynical ways of politics in the employ of her brother, Senator
Healy. With an offer from Gareth (Aaron Tveit), an aide from the other side of the
aisle, she has to run through Washington, D.C. to try to prevent a government
shutdown.

She doesn’t succeed, because her side wants the government
to shut down so they can blame the other side. A lot of whimsy that feels
authentic goes into this, and the political humor is at the forefront, so the
alien takeover of some people’s minds is more on the back burner.

Yes, a multitude of aliens in the form of tiny bugs are in
town. They go into the human ear, like what happened to poor Chekhov in Star Trek II, and the people become
strangely creepy, like in Invasion of the
Body Snatchers.

The funny thing is, Luke’s boss Senator Wheatus (Tony
Shalhoub) becomes more efficient at cutthroat politics. He goes from a drunk
who longs for a masseuse to being a glad-handing dealmaker who upturns
Washington. This is bad for Gareth, since it makes Laurel think he’s a
backstabber.

What Senator Wheatus done is normal, but you should see the
evil look that Tony Shalhoub puts on his face as he does the scene. If you’ve
never seen evil Tony Shalhoub before, you’re in for a treat.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead is the center of the show, and her
face is fascinating to watch, whether she’s showing anxiety, bewilderment,
concern, or whatever she’s feeling towards Luke.

BrainDead is on
CBS on Monday nights at 10:00 pm. (Or you can figure out some way to catch up
online.) The creators are Michelle King and Robert King, and the executive
producer is Ridley Scott. Yes, the Ridley Scott of Alien.

As delightful as this premier was, there were some political
mistakes. If political details make your eyes glaze over, of if you don’t like
spoilers, do not press the Read More button.

Laurel and her brother Senator Healy are Democrats, so most
of the politics is from their viewpoint. But they fairly state that both sides
were responsible for the shutdown, and they allow Gareth to get a few wisecracks
in, though not as many as Laurel.

The main problem is the show is supposed to be happening now,
with a couple videos of a pesky meteor landing date-stamped with June of 2016. They
even constantly show bits of campaign speeches by Donald Trump and Hillary
Clinton on ever-present telescreens.

But they state that Democrats have the majority in the
Senate. This is not true. The Republicans have the majority. They have Senator
Wheatus flip it to the Republican side by having a Democrat switch parties, but
that would not be necessary. And the Republicans have enough of a majority that
one senator changing parties would not flip things.

The main tension in this premier episode is the need for the
Senate to pass a budget and thereby prevent a government shutdown. But the two
are not related in real life. The Senate failed to pass a budget for years
recently, and the government did not shut down.

Also, when the federal government “shuts down,” the majority
of the workers stay on their jobs. The ones who are furloughed are the
non-essential workers.

In one scene, Laurel goes on a Navy ship and wants the
manifest. It is doubtful a low-level congressional aide could see a manifest on
demand.

Gareth says, “People are going hungry over this. People can’t
pay their rent.” After the workers were furloughed for one day? Didn’t they put
any savings away?

So why did I like this series premier if I thought these
mistakes were so obvious? It’s like enjoying a science fiction move or series,
even though they show sound in space. (No, the vacuum of space does not carry
sound, as my previous post indicated.)